Cuba's Communist Party Congress to set future economic, political path

 The Seventh Congress of Cuba's Communist Party (PCC) began on Saturday here to discuss the political and economic path of this Caribbean nation for the following five years in the coming four days.

The congress, chaired by top leader of the PCC and the nation Raul Castro with the attendance of 1,000 delegates and over 280 guests, will be divided in four working groups.

Three of the working groups will discuss economic reforms while a fourth is set to debate over the "conceptualization" of Cuba's socialist model in the future.

Castro will deliver a speech on the party's work since its last congress in 2011 and the economic reform implemented to promote the island nation's socialist path.

The congress delegates, coming from all around the country, will discuss the status of the 313 economic guidelines approved at the last congress in 2011 and their execution up to now.

According to the PCC Central Committee, only 21 percent of these guidelines have been carried out so far, while 77 percent are still being implemented and 2 percent not executed yet.

The meeting, expected to last until April 19, will set Cuba's economic and political path for the next five years.

It has drawn more attention since it was the first congress that has taken place after Havana and Washington re-established diplomatic relations in 2015.